Living on your own in your very first apartment is an exciting time of life. However, it can be stressful to hunt for an apartment and hard to know the best options for your life-style and budget. These tips may help you sort it out to make this important step into adulthood easier.
- Calculate your budget for rent and utilities. It is commonly held that housing costs should be no more than 30% of your income. However, depending on the rental market you want to live in, you may need to spend more. Some ways to save on rent are: finding a compatible roommate, renting a studio apartment or a room in a house, and living more on the edges of a metropolitan area.
- Once you know how much you can afford for rent, you can begin your search. Websites that specialize in listing apartments available for rent and apartment communities, are a good starting point for finding a place for the right price. You an also get the word out among family, friends, and co-workers or check the classifieds of the local paper.
- Have your ducks in a row. Most landlords will do a credit check and will require prove of income and many will also want personal references. Before you go to see an apartment ask what funds will be needed for the application and to hold an apartment. Sometimes apartments go fast and you don’t want to lose out because you weren’t prepared.
- Read the fine print before you sign on the dotted line and check out the neighborhood. A lease is a binding legal document requiring you to pay rent for a agreed upon amount of time. You don’t want to find out after the fact that your lovely new place is located in a high crime area or that they don’t allow dogs. Remember, your mother said that if you moved out you had to take Fido too.
If you think about and prepare for each step of the process before you begin, finding your first new place will go smoothly.
via:http://rentbits.com/blog/apartment-tips/finding-your-first-apartment
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